Spitfire Dive-Bombers Versus the V2: Fighter Command's Battle with Hitler's Mobile Missiles [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

It is a very detailed story about a small part of WWII. A lot of research has been done and that gives the book a lot of authority. I was especially interested because I lived for 40 years in Bezuidenhout. The Haagsche Bosch was more or less my playground. And also the flattened part was for years a field of adventure until they started to build houses.
The book describes the birth and development of the battle between the Spitfires and the German V2-installations. With the amount of details and the vivid writing style, you will be able to visualize a minute but for the Dutch an important part of WWII.

The thought of strapping 250-lb. and 500-lb. bombs on the graceful Spitfire fighter seems almost a crime of nature. Yet, as recounted in Bill Simpson's book, that's just what the RAF did in WWII and it turns out the Spit made a pretty good dive-bomber at that! RAF Spitfire dive-bombers were heavily involved in the campaign against the V2s, their activities being the subject of Simpson's fine 2007 book for England's Pen & Sword Books.

Among the air assets the British committed to the anti-V2 campaign were six 12 Group squadrons - 124, 303, 451, 453, 602 and 229/603. Most were equipped with XVI models that normally carried 2 250-lb. bombs though a 500-pounder could be added to the mix depending on the mission. The units were tasked (1) to fly armed recce over areas of the Netherlands, chiefly the Hague area, to spot and destroy V2 launch sites and (2) to carry out pre-planned strikes on suspected V2-related targets. Why the British chose the six Spit squadrons when they could have assigned more heavily-armed Typhoon and Tempest units remains a puzzler, Simpson being unable to supply a definitive answer.

Nevertheless the pilots from 602, 229/603, 303 and 453 promptly joined in the Allied V2 campaign soon after the first V2 hit England on 8 September 1944. (451 and 124 were not committed to the V2 campaign till late in the war). After experimentation, pilots found a 70-degree dive was most effective in putting bombs on target.

Between September 1944 and war's end the squadrons dutifully carried out their missions, losing a baker's dozen pilots to AAA and various causes. In reading SPITFIRE DIVE-BOMBERS VERSUS THE V2 it often seems their efforts amounted to looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Targets were bombed and strafed but what were the final results of all the missions flown by the six squadrons and all the other units committed to the V2 campaign? The main results appears to be the Allied effort forced the German V2 crews to change their missile launch times to nighttime launches, which reduced casualties at the receiving end, and that the endless stream of RAF aircraft hunting for V2s raised the morale of the Dutch people.

Simpson does a marvelous job of relating the V2 missions flown by the six squadrons, his narrative melding strategic concerns with the tactical picture. He brings to life the various personalities that flew with the squadrons as well as the Dutch civilians that aided the Allies. If the final verdict on all this effort is cloudy, it still makes for engaging history. Highly recommended.

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Note: Over 7,000 civilians and military personnel were killed by V2s not to mention 20,000 forced laborers who died constructing V2s. Do you think von Braun lost much sleep over that? Me neither!